What are the symptoms of Anorexia and Bulimia and who gets it? What are the causes and how can it be treated?

Felice 28.10.2003 What are the symptoms of Anorexia and Bulimia and who gets it? What are the causes and how can it be treated? A common misconception of an eating disorder is that it is simply dieting which has gone out of control. However this is not true, food is only one factor. The true definition of an eating disorder is that it is a condition where a person adopts extremely harmful and unhealthy eating habits, this can mean either excessive or restrained eating. Over the past forty years, society has become more aware of eating disorders, and has lost some ignorance it once had surrounding the issue. Most people relate eating disorders as being only a problem for women, however 1 in 10 sufferers are men. Two examples of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa The term Anorexia Nervosa literally means 'loss of appetite', however this is not usually the case. People with anorexia have normal appetites and often feel hungry, but they drastically control their eating habits. In fact, anorectics are quite engrossed by food, in the sense that they often read cookery books and enjoy preparing food for others. This disorder most commonly affects teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18, however there are cases which found that anorexia can start much earlier (as young as 8) or much later (in the 30s and 40s). Clinical Characteristics of

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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Schizophrenia is a group of disorders that effect many elements by a loss of contact with reality.

Schizophrenia is a group of disorders that affects many mental and physical elements such as a loss of contact with reality, a deterioration of social functioning and a loss of logic. Schizophrenia is not a disease where everyone diagnosed with the disease experiences the same symptoms. There are many different types of schizophrenics. Scientists have identified five types of schizophrenia: disorganized, paranoid, catatonic, residual and undifferentiated. (DSM-IV -TR, 2000) These five types of schizophrenics experience many symptoms, positive and negative. Many of those diagnosed can live independently and others need to have every one of their basic needs cared for. There are many different diagnoses of schizophrenia not only one type, each type showing different symptoms. When a doctor diagnoses a patient with schizophrenia the patient will either be deemed a positive or negative schizophrenic or a combination of both (DSM -IV -TR, 2000). Positive schizophrenia is a much better diagnoses with a better chance of eventual recovery or a chance of remission. Positive symptoms are delusions and hallucinations, these symptoms are considered positive because most of these individuals can live an independent life and interact in an occupational setting. Negative symptoms on the other hand are seen as something that is taken away from the individual. "Negative Symptoms of

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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What caused the discoveries of the Medical Renaissance?

What caused the discoveries of the Medical Renaissance? There were many important discoveries in the Renaissance in the medical field. There were several key men who pushed the boundaries of the theories and treatments of medicine. There were many factors that helped with the discoveries of the Renaissance. These included wealth; people were much richer after the Black Death so they could invest in education. Also many people had a renewed interest in the writings of the Romans and Greeks and their thoughts. I think that the main reason there was so much progress in this period was due to people finally dissecting human bodies to see whether the ideas of Galen and the physicians of his time were true. The ideas of Galen had been preserved in the medical profession for hundreds of years so it was very dangerous to challenge the ideas of Galen especially as Galen's ideas had the backing of the Christian Church. The second most important factor of the medical Renaissance was the improved methods of printing. This meant that people's ideas could spread really quickly and be seen by many. There were many men who helped change the face of medicine but there were three men who stand out from the rest. These men are Andreas Vesalius, William Harvey and Ambroise Pare. We will look at each of these men in turn so we will start off with Andreas Vesalius. In 1500 the most

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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Through this essay the spread and development of AIDS will be examined.

Through this essay the spread and development of AIDS will be examined. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Acquired means you can catch it; Immune Deficiency means a weakness in the body's system that fights diseases. Finally, Syndrome means a group of health problems that make up the disease. AIDS is caused by a virus called HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus. If a person gets infected with HIV, the body will try to fight the infection. It will make "antibodies" , special molecules that are supposed to fight HIV. If blood tests show that there are antibodies in the blood, it will mean that the person is infected with the HIV infection. People who have the HIV antibodies are called "HIV- Positive". Being HIV- positive, or having the HIV disease, is not the same as having AIDS. Many people are HIV- positive but do not get sick for many years. As HIV disease continues, it slowly wears down the immune system. Viruses, parasites, fungi and bacteria that usually don't cause any problems can make people very sick if their immune system is damaged. These are called "opportunistic infections". In this essay I will examine the spread and effects of HIV/AIDS through the following case studies, Africa, China. AIDS is transmitted by the following ways; by blood, semen, and breast milk of people infected with HIV has enough of the virus in it to infect other

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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The Role of Pharmacist in Obesity Management

Student Name: YULLIS HEWIS RN: 07152898 Word Count: 1572 (excludes references) Programme: MSc Advancing Pharmacy Practice Module: Therapeutics Assignment: Essay Title: The Role of Pharmacists in Obesity BACKGROUND Obesity Body Mass Index (BMI) is the traditional method to determine whether a person is considered obese. It is quite simple to calculate BMI by a comparison of a person's height and weight. BMI = Weight in kilograms / (Height in metres x Height in metres). A person is considered overweight if the BMI is between 25.0 and 29.9, and if the BMI is greater than 30, then considered as obese (WHO, 1997; NICE, 2007). The BMI, however has limitations as it does not take into account whether the person's weight is fat accumulation or muscle mass, for instance of athletes (Garn et al, 1986). Body composition is the amount of lean body mass and body fat that makes up total body weight. The practical method to measure body fat is using bioelectrical impedance technology, designed as home use body fat monitor. Below is the table of normal range body fat percentage (Gallagher et al, 2000): Age Total Fat % Range Male Female Under 30 2 - 18 20 - 26 31 to 40 3 - 19 21 - 27 41 to 50 4 - 20 22 - 28 51 to 60 6 - 20 22 30 Over 60 7 - 21 Another method to determine obesity is through the use of the waist-to-hip ratio. Waist

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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Individuals and Medical Change Test. I have chosen to investigate the anthrax vaccine - who discovered it, how they discovered it, the factors that contribute to the discovery and how important was this discovery in the development of medicine.

Individuals and Medical Change Test. I have chosen to investigate the anthrax vaccine - who discovered it, how they discovered it, the factors that contribute to the discovery and how important was this discovery in the development of medicine. Louis Pasteur is the man who discovered and proved the anthrax vaccine. Anthrax was, and still is, a very dangerous disease in animals such as sheep and cows that can be transferred to humans. In one area of France, the disease killed 9% of the sheep and 7% of the cows every year. The anthrax disease can also kill humans. He and his team of scientists announced they had produced a weaker version of the anthrax which, when used as an inoculation would immunise the sheep, cows and even humans against catching the anthrax disease. As treatment and new medical findings were rarely heard of at this time, Louis Pasteur was invited to give a public display to prove his recently discovered findings. Pasteur accepted this invitation and conducted his display on the 5 May 1881. For his display, Pasteur was given sixty sheep for his experiment and the event took place with many onlookers to prove his theory. Ten of the sheep were left without any treatment by Louis Pasteur so that they could later serve for comparisons for the other sheep. From the remaining fifty sheep, they were split into two groups. One group were to be inoculated

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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Sequencing (in DNA)

Sequencing, is the process by which the DNA in an individual is decoded into its component nucleotides, the coding units of proteins. The method today involves the use of fluorescently marked dideoxynucleoside triphosphates which lack a hydroxyl group at the 3´ carbon of the deoxyribose sugar. These ddNTPs are placed in a test tube containing many identical single stranded DNA molecules (containing a primer) along with regular dNTPs. The lack of the hydroxyl group at the 3´ end of these ddNTPs leads to chain termination following their insertion onto the strand of DNA. This process is repeated many times, and the resulting strand lengths are separated by electrophoresis and their relative positions are determined (Alberts et al, 2002). Sequencing is at this moment the most powerful tool in advancing the studies of just about every area of biology. From sequencing projects, scientists have been able to decode the genes of various organisms, including humans. The information gained has been of paramount importance to the search and study for human disease-associated genes. The discovery of Restriction fragment length polymorphisms, long DNA fragments highly associated with people suffering from a particular disease, have been found through sequencing and are used extensively to predict the susceptibility of any person to a particular disease.(Human Gene testing article).

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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Malaria - a detailed and descriptive review

Malaria Contents Page Contributor Introduction Description of malaria and its symptoms The illness and its relevance on both a national and international basis The mode of spread of the disease Strategy and control measures Conclusion References Appendix A: Minutes of meetings 2 2 3 6 9 2 3 5 N0193371, N0202908 N0193371 N0167754 N0202908 N0193371 N0193371,N0202908, N0167754 N0193371,N0202908, N0167754 Introduction Of all the insect borne diseases, malaria can be considered the most serious public health issue, even though deaths from malaria are generally preventable. (Perlmann, 1999: 22) This report firstly describes the malaria disease and its symptoms, the disease is then considered on a national and international basis. A detailed description of how the disease is transferred, before considering strategy and control measures. Description of malaria and its symptoms Malaria is an acute febrile illness with an incubation period of seven days or longer (Chiodini et al, 2007: 59). The most severe form is caused by Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), in which variable clinical features include fever, chills, headache, muscular aching, weakness, vomiting, cough, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain. Other symptoms may supervene, such as acute renal failure, generalised convulsions, circulatory collapse, followed by coma and ultimately death. (WHO,

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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Human physiology for Health and Social Care NQF Level 3: BTEC National P2: The structures of the main tissues of the body

Unit 10: Human physiology for Health and Social Care NQF Level 3: BTEC National P2: The structures of the main tissues of the body The aim of the assignment is to describe the structures of the four main tissues are the epithelial tissue, connective tissue, nervous tissue and muscle tissue of the body. By the understanding the assignment will be focus on depict how the structure of the main tissue is, also that going to show clearly where the position of the tissues are, what its look like? Epithelial tissue Epithelial tissues are found on surfaces as either covering outer surfaces or lining inner surfaces. That's covering or lining of all internal and external surfaces of the body. The epithelial tissue is made up of cells, its characteristic shape and the number of layer cells. They have no capillaries of their own that's why the epithelial receive oxygen and nutrients from the blood supply of the connective tissue beneath them. Epithelial tissue, regardless of the type, is usually separated from the underlying tissue by a thin sheet of connective tissue; basement membrane. The basement membrane provides structural support for the epithelium and also binds it to neighbouring structures. Squamous epithelium Squamous epithelium is a single layer and flat cells. These cells are very thin and very smooth these are important physical characteristic. They form the lining

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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Thomas Szasz's work.

If you asked a psychiatrist what he thought of Thomas Szasz's work he would most probably say 'he's mad!' This in itself illustrates Szasz's argument that labels such as 'mad' are used to stigmatize people whose behaviour or thoughts offend or disturb us. According to Szasz mental illness is nothing but a 'myth' that's purpose is to disguise the bitterness of reality! Szasz suggests that collaboration between psychiatrist and the government has successfully disguised this 'social problem' and presented it as a 'medical problem', a 'disease' of the brain. How true are these claims made by Szasz? This essay will go on to explore further into the validity of this argument made by Szasz. Many contemporary psychiatrist, physicians and scientist hold the view that some even if a very subtle, neurological defect will be found for all disorders of thinking and behaviour. All mental illnesses are an attribute to physiochemical processes. The difference they see between a mental and a physical disease is that a mental disease manifest's itself by mental symptoms. Szasz argues, what central nervous system symptom would correspond to a skin eruption or a fracture? It would not be some emotion or complex bit of behaviour. Rather it would be blindness or paralysis of some part of the body', Szasz (1960). He suggests that there are diseases of the brain like 'Parkinson's disease'

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Medicine and Dentistry
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